Mary Lutz-Govertsen is Countess AdèleMary is delighted to return to Transgressive Theater-Opera, having sung Fiordiligi/Così fan tutte, Olga Knipper/A Few Words About Chekov in TT-O's production of A Chekhov Trio, and Lucy/The Telephone and A Girl/Hello Out There during the company’s inaugural performances. As a young professional singer in Chicago, Mary has performed with Third Eye Theatre Ensemble, Windy City Opera, Chamber Opera Chicago, Verismo Opera, Main Street Opera, OperaModa, Opera for the Young, the DuPage Symphony and Chorale, the Music Institute of Chicago, Katydid Opera, and Chicago Symphony Chorus. She has been seen as Lucia/Lucia di Lammermoor; Donna Anna/Don Giovanni; Fiordiligi/Così fan tutte; Rosalinde/Die Fledermaus; Adele/Le Comte Ory; Heroines/Les Contes d’Hoffmann; First Lady/The Magic Flute; Mimi and Musetta/La boheme, Madame Lidoine/The Dialogues of the Carmelites; and Mlle. Silberklang/Der Schauspieldirektor, among others. She has been an apprentice at Opera New Jersey, where she covered the role of Clorinda/La Cenerentola and at Cedar Rapids Opera, as Fiordiligi/Cosi fan tutte. This season Mary performed Alice Ford/Falstaff with Main Street Opera, and Almera/Dark Sisters with Third Eye Theater Ensemble. She lives in Chicago with her husband, bass-baritone David Govertsen and 1-year-old son, increasingly mobile high pitched shrieker Ben.

Kota Terrace is TutorKota Terrace, bass has been noted for his nuanced characterizations paired with his distinct youthful profondo. Upcoming engagements include Third Eye Theatre Ensemble’s production of Paula Kimper’s Patience and Sarah asPa Dowling and Petite Opera Productions’ Don Giovanni as Il Commendatore. Recent appearances include Warlock Jarthel in Thompson Street Opera Company’s premiere production of Eric Lindsay’s Cosmic Ray and the Amazing Chris and Gideon March in Chicago Vocal Arts Consortium’s production of Adamo’s Little Women.In addition to his work as a performer, Kota serves as Administrative Support for Chicago Vocal Arts Consortium. Especially passionate about Eastern European opera and art song, he is also laying the groundwork for Bohemian Opera Works, a Chicagoland opera company that will perform works in Russian, Czech, Polish, and Hungarian. Kota is soon to complete his Master of Music in Voice Performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University where he was seen as Badger and Parson in The Cunning Little Vixen, Tempo in the prologue of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulises in Patria and Der Schultz in Mendelssohn’s liederspiel Heimke aus dem Fremde.An alumnus of Idaho State University, his roles there included Mr. J.J. Peachum in Weill’s The Threepenny Opera and Don Alhambra del Bolero in The Gondoliers. Kota can also be heard as a cantor and chorister at Queen of Angels Catholic Parish in Lincoln Square where he is an Assistant Conductor of its Schola Cantorum. Kota is a student of Kurt Link. ​

Brittany Jeffery is IsolierMezzo-soprano Brittany Jeffery is a native Kansan who has recently re-located to Chicago!

Last August Brittany made her debut as Third Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Lawrence Opera Theatre and during June 2017, she was selected to take part in W. Stephen Smith’s Naked Voice Institute, where she studied the role of Romeo in Bellini’s Il Capuleti e i Montecchi.

In 2016, Brittany completed her Master of Music degree at Wichita State University. There she performed several leading and supporting roles including Mrs. McLean in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah and Effie Belle Tate in Cold Sassy Tree; Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. She also had the pleasure of performing the role of Margaret Johnson in Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza, directed by Wayne Bryan of Music Theatre Wichita.

During her graduate studies, Brittany spent summers performing in Italy, New Mexico, Chicago, and New York. She spent five weeks in Lucca, Italy studying the role of Sesto in Giulio Cesare and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Brittany wasalso a young artist with The Land of Enchantment Opera Institute, where she performed Marcellina and covered Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Directly following the completion of her master’s degree in 2016, Brittany performed the role of Nancy in Albert Herring with Chicago Summer Opera and ended that same summer as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel with Manhattan Opera Studio in New York City.

His most recent performance in Third Eye Ensemble’s production of With Blood With Ink garnered high praise from Chicago Classical Review: “Noah Gartner’s firm baritone as Archbishop Seijas provided a finely etched characterization as well as the best singing of the evening.”

​Favorite performances include Figaro (Barber of Seville), Valentin (Faust), the title role in Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Ford (Falstaff), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Papageno (Magic Flute), Schaunard (La bohème), Alwan (Sumeida’s Song), and the title role in Petite Opera’s production of Brundibar alongside his wonderfully talented children – Paul and Anne.